Régis Debray divides Western cultures
into three historical eras according to the way mankind looked at the
world as influenced by the predominate means of transmission: writing,
printing and the audiovisual.

At this point I cringe when I hear the d-word because it doesn’t mean
anything. It’s a vague, rather dubious concept, and those who toss it around
the most seem to have thought least about its implications. Even worse, they
think it has something to do with freedom, as though a democratic majority
couldn’t be as oppressive as any tyrannical individual, even more
so.”

Editor’s Note: Dee Hock is responsible for the
“chaordic” organizational structure of VISA, which
propelled it into the largest credit card company in the world. He has since
become both a student and mentor of this organizational architecture, and is
one of 30 living laureates of the Business Hall of Fame. Part one discusses
the nature of the VISA organizational structure and the background behind
its creation. Part
two next month will discusses the
implications for the future.

GOD IS IN THE PROGRAMMING DETAILS
Anne Foerst, resident theologian at MIT’s
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, says: “I think that computer
science, and especially artificial intelligence, is THE field for
religious inquiry.” Foerst, an ordained minister who holds advanced
degrees in theology, computer science, and philosophy adds: “At
some point, cog-like robots will be part of our community,” and
suggests that we widen up the criteria of what it means to be human to
include chimps and some smart robots.” Foerst work has been
attacked as “evangelical” by the founder of the Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory, Marvin Minsky, who charges: “The act of
appearing to take such a subject seriously makes it look as though our
community regards it as a respectable contender among serious theories.
Like creationism and other faith-based doctrines, I suspect it is bad
for young students.” Foerst says she understands Minsky’s
skepticism: “Some theologians are very anti-technology. The first
reaction they always have is fear: ‘These robots are different from us.
Humans were created in the image of God.’ They are not even willing to
consider those questions.” (San Jose Mercury News 16 Oct
99)

(The cross-weave of interior hyperlinks on this page is designed to
provide an interlinear commentary–a commentary with no voice other than the
pattern of the links themselves. The best way to read this page is in Lynx or
some other browser that uses a highlight or other indicator to show which of
several closely-clustered interior target-links one has jumped to. Netscape
shows where one has jumped by placing the target-link on the top line of the
screen–which is adequate except when there is more than one possible
target-link on a line. Note: there is no “Back to Voice of the Shuttle Home
Page” link here; instead one of the links in the quotations–the obvious
one–serves that function.) (This page last revised 11/16/96)

“Welcome To Cyberdreamwork. The site where together
we drill for dreams and
probe the depths.

Dreams are lands of pure imagination. They are the
life we
live beyond the day. Cyberspace is created by imagination

as well.
Dreams and cyberspace are a perfect match.

Dreamwork makes it possible to
revisit our nightly
adventures while being fully awake. This is done
through
intense focus.

Dreamwork is easiest if a few others who care
about
dreaming ask you questions to keep your focus
concentrated and guard
you from otherwise inevitable
distractions. With the help of a group the work
deepens to

well beyond anything you can do on your own.

If you like to
search along the borders and into the depths
of the unknown please enter. “

“Listed below is a list of links to all the articles and
pages in the hypertext book (web site) The Psychology of Cyberspace.The articles are arranged
chronologically, with the most recently written or revised ones
appearing near the top. The most recent date of the article, its version
number, and its approximate size are indicated. Unless otherwise stated,
the author of the article is John
Suler, Ph.D. There also is a subject index and search engine for this book. Links on this page will produce
a “pop-up” window placed on top of this window. “

First MondayPublishing on the Net : It
may be late in the piece, but I have just discovered a net native publishing
venture, with good articles.

“The Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies is an online, not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to research, study, teach, support, and create diverse and dynamic elements of cyberculture. Collaborative in nature, RCCS seeks to establish and support ongoing conversations about the emerging field, to foster a community of students, scholars, teachers, explorers, and builders of cyberculture, and to showcase various models, works-in-progress, and online projects.”

Internet Interviews
A lot of them are dead, some of them might be found
with esewhwere with a search, but this one works:

“Hayles contends that, through literature and academic discourse, our culture has been prepped to accept the disembodied information through which posthumans inhabit the cyberworld. She finds the prospect terrifying and exhilarating.

“Her writing style — she persistently drops
exotic names with no identification — together with the subject matter
makes “How We Became Posthuman” a tough read. But her insights into
the implications of her subject and the literary and scientific writings
she discusses make it worth the effort. “

Microsoft Buys Firefly
One of the reasons
this news gets such a mention here is that the collaborative filtering is very
*psychological*, at least in principle. Also because a few of us here have
*dreamt* about its use in groups and also more broadly see the story I wrote about our adventure and links to the dummy pages
I drafted a few years ago.

Technosis
by Eric Davis. Here is an excerpt from the amazon review. More reviews in the click to amazon above.

Erik Davis looks at modern information technology–and much previous technology–to reveal how much of it has roots in spiritual attitudes. Furthermore, he explores how those who embrace each new technological advance often do so with designs and expectations stemming from religious sensibilities.

Interview with David Noble Commerce Influences
Content: The author of the Digital Diploma Mills articles is interviewed by
The Node.
A powerful analysis of how private interests determine
what we read, how education, innovation and health care is under their
control.

How
this influences the psyche is worth pondering especially
in the light of the Giegerich articles mentioned in January 99 (Psyche
below).

The Future
of the Self is the title of a book by Walter
Truett Anderson which is related, at least on the surface to the question we
have been exploring in Psyber-L… it there something new about the soul
(related to the Self in some way surely)Article from World Future Society

More:Evolution of the Psyche
by David H. Rosen (Editor), M. C. Luebbert (Editor) could be seen as on the same theme, but not really as far as I can tell. More on that one atJungindex .
I have a sense it is more about the evolution of various social behaviours.

[email protected] from
Cambridge, MA , November 18, 1998
An upbeat preview of a world transmuted by computers.
To live at the beginning of a new era is exciting; to do so and understand what is happening is a rare privilege. Douglas Robertson offers to share this privilege with us by presenting his vision of a world transformed by computers in the not-too-distant future. It is an upbeat peek at the future, devoid of the gloomy forecasts of some “future shock” science fiction adventures. As with all penetrating portrayals of the future, The New Renaissance is provocative and draws controversial conclusions.

From a
psychological point of view this book may be relevant, it is about the
emergence of a new *era* does that imply a new Psyche?

All of these books, as well as the links mentioned in in January 99 on the theme of the Psyche in Cyberspace are relevant to the discussions inPsyber-L
a private mailing list which explores these
matters and includes our immediate experience in the discussions.

“As Karl Marx turned the world of
philosophy upside down by revealing the foundations in society for every
human theory, Teilhard tried to accomplish the even more difficult task
of turning theology downside up. He tried to demonstrate that the
material world, the world of rocks and trees, stars and planets, plants
and animals, rather than being the neutral subject of scientific
investigation, was in fact the soil from which would spring a new vision
of the holy. The very subject matter of pure science was nothing less
than a mirror in which one could see reflected the face of
God.”

Makes sense to me, it is like the shift
that Giegerich speaks of, Copernican. -wl

Particular Links on Teilhard de Chardin
I
am interested in these old ideas about noosphere, as they tie in with
Technosis, Giegerich… wish i could get to write it all up, but links are
enough for now. wl — 2 Feb.

“It was his opinion: “We are,
at this very moment, passing through a change of age. Beneath a change
of age lies a change of thought.” (1961, p. 214, 215) That hidden
change would at first influence only a few but it would continue to
expand. “I know of no more moving story nor any more revealing of
the biological reality of a noogenesis than that of intelligence
struggling step by step from the beginning to overcome the illusion of
proximity.” (p. 216)”

http://www.levity.com/index.html
“LEVITY
is a leading strategy, programming,
software development, and design
consulting firm,
based in New York City.
Levity approaches its work with
an essential merger of business strategy,
technology and aesthetics.”
The link is here because they
showcase some interesting writing such as: Erik Davis’ Figments. And to his
Technosis book!

Try the *Other* Email Clients
Jon C.A. DeKeles, Technical Director ZDNet AnchorDesk
A list of many other clients and where to download them.
Email is the life blood for
the psyche in cyberspace. Both the articles focus simply on the *tools* but
the tools are important… see:

Computing at Chaos Manor Jerry Pournelle
Jerry has had a column in Byte for 20 years and has been moved on. He’s
gone to the web and it is a sight to behold! For those who like to hear
about the wires and the chips and how Jerry approaches them it is a great
place to go. He is also a co-author of sci-fi, and sometimes writes about
how collaborates. Way back he might have been a psychologist as well.
Interesting how he is seeking subscriptions to his site, a very personal and
inviting approach!

Industrial Logic, Inc.
I
thought i’d send it here just because i like this site’s look and feel! Also
as a company, it’s presentation is inviting to me. -wl.

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